Monday, October 4, 2010

I want you to know that I had a whole 'nother topic planned for today. (I'm so, so sorry I've been so absent. I'm working on it.) I planned to tell you about my weekend, the first in a while that's been honestly relaxing and refreshing. The one where I hung out with a good friend, walked 3 dogs, took a couple really good naps and ate some really good food. Yep, that's what I was going to talk about... till this hot mess took over the blogging community today. Take a minute... read it... I'll wait..

I want to say that out of the "Big 6," I only follow two, Kath and Jenna. You know Jenna, she has been the inspiration for a few of my recipes on the blog. However, I do follow a whole lot of other healthy living blogs and never have I ever seen anything to warrant this kind of article. To say that people who are truly living a healthy lifestyle may either have disorders or influence others to have disorders is ridiculous. I'm confused as to when a healthy, strong body became synonymous with unhealthy. Is this because obesity is SO RAMPANT in America now that when we see someone at a healthy weight we automatically assume they are underweight and unhealthy? Since when did it become unacceptable to be upset when an injury prevents us from working out? This claim was made towards Jenna, who cried one day because her feet were too blistered to run. Um... so? Aren't injuries frustrating? Isn't it possible that she might love running and be upset when she is physically unable? I mean damn, I played an entire season of soccer in high school with a stress fracture, taping my foot before each and every game and practice. Was I suffering from exercise bulimia, or simply just maybe could I not even entertain the thought of taking the season off? I loved soccer, and playing through a minor injury was not even a question.

Among other ridiculous mentions in the article... I love the part where she mentions that at the Healthy Living Summit, bloggers chose yogurt and fruit over the croissants and muffins, and one of the 6 made a comment that those kinds of foods were not asked for. Wow, the audacity to actually eat fruit for breakfast instead of a pastry? At a Healthy Living conference?? Oh, the insanity. And yet, somehow this is looked at as a bad thing. Also a bad thing? The inspiration to readers to exercise. The author takes it and twists it all around making it look as though people who read these blogs are immediately going out and running marathons without proper training, injuring themselves, and causing major damage. I'm not saying this doesn't happen because maybe it does, but that's not the blogger's fault. Just as posting pictures about food causing a trigger for some with eating disorders is also not the blogger's fault. Most bloggers who post about running races also post their training plans. Most will also make a point to tell you that they do not post pictures of every single thing they eat in a day. So all these doctors weighing in on the articles saying they aren't getting enough calories and whatever, let's all use a little common sense. There was most definitely some unpictured food consumed that day.

I feel as though this article was just a blatant attack. Kath posted in this post about how she thought the article was going to go. She, and the other 5 girls, all had interviews with this woman and yet none of their thoughts and quotes were shared. This makes me very sad. I honestly think this author should be fired. It's worse than the Cosmo article. What makes me even sadder though, is how bad America has gotten in terms of health. Now it's a bad thing to run and train for marathons. Now it's a bad thing to turn away the muffins and croissants in favor of fruit and yogurt. Now it's a bad thing to try to be conscious of your health, and to weigh a healthy weight. A healthy weight is now looked at as "too" skinny. But on the flip side, everyone is complaining about the obesity epidemic and how lazy we all are.

To say that I'm appalled by this would be the understatement of the year. I think it goes without saying that I will be posting a comment to Marie Claire directly, and no longer purchasing their magazines. This was so irresponsible and combative an article that I am no longer interested in anything else they have to say. I'm sure I can find better advice in blogland.

4
comments:

I read the first half, and it's hard to pick a qoute to call "combative," yet I can't deny the degrading tone. Neat trick. Perhaps, they're trying to make the less-disciplined readers (and writer?) feel better about themselves. There's also a derogatory tone to the "Big 6's" having sponsors. Is MC the only magazine EVER to not court sponsors? Just sayin'...

I'm sooooo glad this is causing such a reaction in the blog world. The article was HORRIBLE. Seriously, probably one of the worst things I've ever read. It definitely is a blatant attack on these girls. I've read a few of them before and see nothing wrong with their blogs. I'm very inspired by them. I really hope Marie Claire steps up and takes responsibility for this article and writes a retraction or something apologizing for this. I've never read MC before, but you can bet I never will now.

I don't read either of these blogs so I'm probably not the most qualified to comment but I will say a couple of things:

First, the article had a clear bias and seemed to have made up her mind about the subject before she even did the interviews.

However, I do understand the point about disordered eating. While it was irresponsible of her to sensationalize and misrepresent the content of those blogs, she is right in saying that blogs like that CATER to those who are predisposed to eating disorders. That's not to say healthy living blogs necessarily CAUSE those behaviors, though.

In general, a little balance would have allowed her to make her point without going to far and offending as many people as she did.

Will: I guess I said combative because she did so many interviews with these girls and talked to them face to face, saw what they try to accomplish, and then wrote that garbage. It was like she was trying to pick a fight.

prettylittlereckless: You are reading my mind.. my thoughts exactly!

Bagel Fairy: I understand what you mean. I recognize that there is the occasional reader who is taking what is said and twisting it into something it's not and using it to fuel any range of disorders. But that's the readers fault, not the writers. I got even more angry when I read the posts from all the girls and saw copied and pasted emails, extensive interviews, heard their side of things that were taken out of context... it was all so incredibly wrong. If she wanted to mention both sides, I might feel a little more fair.

About Me

I am 26 years old and orginally from upstate NY. I am currently living in Cary, NC with my boyfriend, my dog and my cat. I am a vegetarian, but in no way do I expect to try to force others to make that change. I do hope to influence others to be able to make changes to their daily diet which will improve their health and quality of life. There are a lot of rumors and fads out there now about food, and it gets very confusing even for me. I have a BA in Community Health and Psychology, and I continue to study nutrition on my own every day. I am passionate about doing my part to help people look and feel their best, and to do everything I can to sort through the mess of diets that are cluttering our TV infomercials and bookstores.